Conventional shower head designs include those having a shower head housing with a plurality of passageways allowing various water sprays to flow from the shower head. Furthermore, shower heads having a surface with a plurality of passageways, or nozzle orifices which utilize a backing disk having a plurality of resilient and flexible nozzle tips protruding through the nozzle orifices are known. The resilient nozzles of these known shower heads allow for convenient elimination of the build-up of calcium or other deposits by manually flexing the resilient nozzles when it appears that material is collecting therein. In these known shower heads, the entire nozzle is formed of a resilient and flexible rubber which does not match the finish of, e.g., a brass or chrome shower head.
Conventional faucets include one or more water supply valves in communication with a generally tubular structure that extends from the base of a sink area and allows water to flow into a sink basin. The faucet is generally used to facilitate washing various objects with the assistance of a surfactant. Surfactants are compounds that lower the surface tension of a liquid allowing easier spreading or lowering the interfacial tension between a liquid and an object. The water supply can be operated by a single mixing valve or by two valves for regulated the amount of hot and cold water. Conventional bath faucets extend from the wall or base of an enclosure and allow water to flow into the bath enclosure.
The use of adjustable shower heads, sink and bath faucets are known in the prior art. More specifically, adjustable shower heads sink and bath faucets heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Water conservation is becoming a major issue for many cities and a apparatus for monitoring water usage at a specific residential or corporate site could be useful in supporting water conservation.
Another type of an adjustable shower head, sink/bath faucet and water supply piping assemblies are conventionally constituted by a hose which may be in the form of a flexible tube protected by metal coils or in the form of a plastic hose optionally including braiding. In either case, the hose is generally linear in shape and has a length lying in the range 1.25 meters (m) to 2 m. When not in use, the hose hangs down into a bath tub or other bathroom fitting where it is often dirtied by contact with dirty water.
Sometimes the hose can be hidden away in a chute (requiring a hole to be made), in which case it dirties a volume that is inaccessible for cleaning. The hole often leads to water seeping under the bath tub. Furthermore, these drawbacks (difficulty of storage and problems with dirt) make it undesirable to install a longer hose, even though a longer hose would often be convenient when the shower head is in use. As a result of shower hoses not being long enough, they are often damaged by the user pulling on them.
Anti-scalding pressure balance and thermostatic temperature control valves are becoming an important part in bathroom plumbing because the attempt to minimize scalding and cold water shocks that can occur in a shower when a toilet is flushed or a faucet is turned on.
Furthermore, there is a need for monitoring water parameters for home and commercial use can be incorporated into the device using wireless technology.
Furthermore, there is a need for displaying, monitoring and/or controlling water parameters using audio or verbal annunciations or commands.
Accordingly, a need remains for an adjustable shower, sink or bath faucet or water supply piping with displays either with analog or digital means certain parameters, such as time on, flow rate, total volume, and temperature, in order to overcome or supplement the above-noted shortcomings. The present invention satisfies such a need by providing an adjustable shower head, bath or faucet assembly that is convenient and easy to use, provides adequate reach and adjusting capabilities for various applications, and is attractive in appearance.
In additional, this is a need for an adjustable shower or bath head or water supply piping monitors water usage to encourage water savings and promote careful conscientious use of water and energy resources.